There’s a widening conversation about freedom of expression, sometime private and sometimes public, sometimes heated and sometimes calm, sparked by events at the University of Toronto, Wilfred Laurier, Dalhousie, and right here at UBC.

I have an unorganized opinion and I’m struggling to express that opinion in a way that satisfies me – a way that’s free from my unconscious biases, that respects people and principles, and that I can defend with reliable evidence.

Over the past few months, three people’s words and ideas refuse to fade from my memory. I take this as a sign that they’re informing my opinion, even if I don’t know how.

Aftab Erfan is the Director of Dialogue & Conflict Engagement in the Equity and Inclusion Office at UBC Vancouver. “Conflict,” she says, “is difference that matters” and “some conflicts will not be resolved.” Like the conflict between freedom of speech and a respectful environment. The University supports and promotes both of these.

Robert Talbert is a math professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. I follow his active learning research and practices and greatly admire his respect and care for students. He recently tweeted

Profs: Your job is not to protect students from intellectual difficulty. Your job is to make sure they encounter it – and give them a safe space to do so.

Yes, I totally agree, and help them learn and practice the skills to contribute to those difficult discussions.

I’ve known Mark Mac Lean, Professor of Teaching in Math at UBC Vancouver, for a long time – we were in grad school together. I’ve always seen Mark as a dedicated educator. His recent thread, “Free Speech and the Classroom,” caught my attention because of its deep respect and care for students. Mark writes

As a teacher, I need to be a self-governing person who understands that my actions in a classroom impact my students. I need to recognize they can’t simply mute me or walk out of the room without consequences. I need to recognize the large power differential between me and them.

The choices I make are not simply about my freedom (academic or otherwise) but impinge on them and their freedoms. Standing on Main Mall on a soap box and speaking my mind is very different than standing in my classroom and speaking my mind.

On Main Mall [a busy, public space at UBC], my audience can challenge me without fear of reprisal or simply walk away. In my classroom, neither is possible, even when I work to make it a place where students could be comfortable challenging me.

In one space, I am exercising my free speech (and possibly my academic freedom) and in the other I have the potential to curtail the freedoms of my students if I do not understand my responsibilities to my students.

I want to have an opinion – I need to have an opinion – and it bothers me that I can’t find the words to properly express it. For now, I’ll continue to listen and read, formulate and test my opinions with colleagues and mentors, in person and online.

In the meantime, let’s hear it for self-reflection: apparently it takes time and a safe space to develop and express an opinion in a way that satisfies me – a way that’s free from my unconscious biases, that respects people and principles, and that I can defend with reliable evidence. Wait, are those the kinds of opinions we want our students to learn to formulate, in classes led by course instructors who feel welcome and supported by the Centre for Teaching and Learning? Maybe I’m closer to an opinion than I think…